Page 61 of Inflame Me
I rip my fingers through my hair. I need to pound something, but I don’t have time. We need to head out, too.
AFTER A FULL day on the road, only stopping to get some shut eye, we pull up to Ralphie’s well-guarded compound. Stone walls line the front with wires across the top. We’re out in the middle of no man’s land with no one around for miles. Of course, Ralphie does have a very profitable business, and it needs to be protected.
The wide gates open as we pull up, Pops leading the way in our pack. We follow and are led to a side lot where an ape of a man points.
The place is huge, acres and acres with buildings here and there. Even houses are spread throughout with grassy areas included.
We park our bikes and kill the engines.
“This way,” the ape calls out, and with a nod from Pops, we follow. The entire crew came on this one: Pops, Becs, Zed, Dagger, GT, Cruz, Buzz, Tug, Breaker, and myself. We even tagged the leftover prospect into driving the cage behind us, just in case.
The ape opens the door to a large warehouse and goes through the doors where he stops us immediately. “Guns, cell phones, GPS's—whatever you’ve got needs to go into that bin right there.” He points to a large plastic tote.
The idea of going into this shit unarmed does not sit right with me one bit. Luckily, it doesn’t with Pops, either.
“We keep the guns and drop the cells,” he says. The ape shakes his head, so Pops says, “Let me talk to Ralphie.”
The ape pulls out his cell and holds it up to his ear. He has no hair and is built like a Mack truck. He then holds the phone out to Pops.
“What’s going on, Ralphie?” Pops questions. “You know we need to have protection … I understand.” Pops’s vein begins to tick in his neck, so whatever is being discussed over the phone isn’t good. Fuck.
“Got it.” He hands the phone back to the ape and addresses us. “Everything in the tub.”
Fucking hell. We listen, taking all of our shit off and putting it in. Why the fuck do I feel like we are being lead to slaughter?
“We called this meeting. He has every right to have these precautions,” Pops reasons, but even if they are valid, I don’t give a flying shit.
After emptying out everything and going through a fucking metal detector, we are led to a large room where Ralphie sits at the head of the table with his goons behind him. The little balding man sits prominently while he waits for us to sit down.
“You seem to have caused me a huge problem,” Ralphie says, his fingers steepled, a clear sign of power.
“Those assholes were trying to take one of ours,” Pops replies coolly.
“From what I understand, she was already theirs to begin with.”
From the corner of my eye, I see Tug’s hands fist, but he holds his shit together.
“So they thought. She didn’t feel the same way,” Pops says.
Ralphie smiles sinisterly. “Let’s cut the shit. I don’t have time for it. I do not have a problem in this situation. My pockets are fully lined, and the product is the same as usual.”
So, those fuckers that took over paid Ralphie to keep him off their backs. They were smarter than I gave them credit for.
“You, on the other hand, have a problem. What do you want from me?”
This blows more than I realized. We owe him, but if we keep to our end, he’ll stick to his.
“Get them off our asses,” Pops says simply.
“And how do you propose I do that?” Ralphie questions.
“Threaten to pull your product if they don’t.”
Ralphie laughs. This time, it’s real. “You think coming here and doing this grand bullshit will get me to roll over?”
“Seems you have some rats in your organization,” Pops says.
It takes everything in my gut to keep my face impassive. How in the fuck did I miss this shit?
